First Encounter
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Just how did Jasmine come to have Rajah?


Title: "First Encounter"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: G  
Summary: Just how did Jasmine come to have Rajah?  
Disclaimer: Aladdin, Jasmine, Rajah, the Sultan, Jafar, Iago, and the guards are all © & TM Disney and are used without permission. Everything else is © & TM Pirate Turner. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this story, and it is for entertainment purposes only.

The Sultan paced back and forth before his royal throne. His head hung low as his hands wrung continuously behind his back. His heavy sigh seemed to echo through the quiet palace. What was he to do with her? How could he make her see just how much he did care for her?

There was the sound of a throat being cleared behind the Sultan, and he turned his head to see his adviser standing tall behind him. The taller man's dark eyes bore down at him with what the Sultan thought to be concern, and a parrot perched on top of the royal adviser's golden staff. "I came as soon as I sensed your troubles, Your Majesty," Jafar spoke with a frown. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh, Jafar," the Sultan said wearily. "What am I supposed to do? Jasmine wants me to pay sole attention to her, but I can't. I haven't the time to. I have a city of people to take care of!" He turned begging eyes up at his adviser as he pleaded, "Tell me. What can I do to make her see that I care for her?"

Jafar smiled reassuringly down at the short Sultan. "Your daughter loves you, Your Majesty, but when was the last time you took so time out of your dreadfully busy schedule to be with her? She knows you have many people to take care of, but she feels neglected. Why don't you just take the rest of the afternoon off and spend it with her? I can manage any business that can not wait until then." He paused before adding with an imploring look, "That is, of course, if you trust me to do so, Your Majesty? I would never meddle in your affairs unless you requested me to and would never step in to handle something that required your attention unless you either asked me to or it simply could not wait."

The parrot on Jafar's staff began to open his mouth at the same time as the Sultan's mouth opened to answer his adviser. Jafar wrapped two fingers around Iago's beak so swiftly that the Sultan did not even notice.

The Sultan beamed appreciatively up at Jafar. "You would do that for me?" he asked.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Jafar smiled slyly. "I would do whatever you requested of me; I am but your lowly servant."

The Sultan clapped his hands together in delight. "Oh goody! Jasmine will love this! Of course, it can only be this one time as I do have to take care of most of my affairs myself, but I can use the rest of today and tonight to make her see just how important she is to me! I wonder what she would like to do? What kind of games do children like?" The Sultan continued to babble merrily even as he raced off toward his daughter's bedroom as fast as his short legs could carry him.

Behind him, Jafar grinned wickedly. An evil fire seemed to dance in his dark eyes as he released Iago and rubbed his beard in thought. Finally, he had a chance to begin to take over!

* * *

The Sultan quickly arrived at his daughter's bedroom, but no answer met his ears no matter how many times his fist rapped against the wooden door. Finally having grown exasperated, he eventually called out, "Very well, Jasmine. I shall let myself in!" He tried the knob only to find it locked, but his special key easily opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, the Sultan's brow knitted with worry. Where was she? "Jasmine?" he called again as he stepped through the door, turning slowly as his eyes darted over his new surroundings. When had his daughter's tastes changed so much? The Sultan's eyes froze when he spotted a piece of paper laying on Jasmine's pillow.

He hurried to her bed and snatched the paper up only to find her handwriting scrawled across the paper. His eyes darted over the note, and an icy fist gripped his heart in terror. Tears filled his eyes. His little girl had ran away! He shivered at the thought of the dangers she might find in the city even as he bellowed for his guards. "GUARDS! GUARDS!"

* * *

Meanwhile, a young child raced through the marketplace, her long, ebony hair flowing in the breezes behind her. Terror gripped the girl's heart as she raced blindly through the bazaar, her wide eyes trying frantically to take in all the new sights yet failing to look directly in front of her. Suddenly, she ran straight into the side of a cart. The impact sent her stumbling back, and she crashed into a nearby table, jostling it so badly that fruits were sent rolling in every direction.

"HEY!" the angry seller shouted. "WATCH WHAT YOU'RE --" His furious voice broke off abruptly as the terrified girl looked up at him, and he recognized the child's beautiful face. Instantly, he began bowing and gushing an apology, "Oh, Princess, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you!" Yet as he looked up again, the child had already scampered away.

* * *

Back at the palace, the Guards filed out to search for Princess Jasmine, leaving only a couple of guards and Jafar to protect the Sultan. "Oh, this is so terrible!" Jafar wailed, his shoulders shaking as he buried his face in his arm that was wrapped around his staff. "The Princess is lost in the city with a _tiger_ on the loose!"

"Tiger!" the Sultan exclaimed, jumping around to face his adviser.

"Did . . . Did I say tiger?" Jafar questioned between sobs. "I . . . I didn't mean to!" he lied easily.

"If-If there is s-something I sh-should kn-know, Jafar, t-tell me!" the Sultan stammered out, his legs quivering with fear at the thought that a wild tiger was prowling the streets of his lovely city.

"Oh, Your Majesty," Jafar spoke slowly, bringing his head away from his arm but still hanging his head as he shook it in regret. "I'm such an awful worm! The last thing I wanted to do was add to your concern, but . . . I . . . I suppose you should know . . . A tiger escaped from the last circus that passed through. He has not managed to be caught yet, and there have been reports of peasants who have found him devouring their children and barely managed to escape with their own lives!"

As Jafar had spoken, the Sultan's shaking had increased, but his round face had also began to fill with a deep red coloring. "If my daughter is in _that_ much danger, I am **_not_** going to just wait around here and hope that my guards can find her!"

Jafar looked at the Sultan in surprise. "What are you saying, Your Majesty?" he queried innocently.

"I'm going out there!" the Sultan exclaimed. "I'm going to find my daughter, and I'm going to bring her home where she belongs!"

"But, Your Majesty," Jafar protested. "You can't be serious! You can't go out there; it's too dangerous! The tiger! The thieves!"

In response, the enraged Sultan jerked his thumb toward the remaining guards. "That's what I have them for, and _no one_ tells me what to do unless I _ask_ them, Jafar! _I_ tell _them_ what to do!" His eyes narrowed at his adviser as he added, "And you're _all_ coming with me!"

The Sultan stormed out of the palace with one guard running before him and the other following at his heels. Jafar slowly followed. "Now see what you've done!" his parrot accused. "He's going to use us as _bait_ for a _tiger_!"

Jafar just smiled wickedly as he ignored Iago. Things could not possibly be going any better for him. If he could find a way for both the Sultan and the Princess to meet their ends in the streets of Agrabah, no fingers could possibly point to him, and then he would be free to take over the palace and, from there, the city.

* * *

Jasmine's head jerked up suddenly as she heard her name being called. Her wide eyes quickly scanned her unfamiliar surroundings. She swallowed hard as she spotted her father's head guard working his way through the crowd and searching desperately for her.

She knew that he would force her to go home if he caught her, and she didn't want to go back to a place where she was neither loved nor even wanted. The little girl's eyes filled with tears as she ducked hurriedly back into a shadowy alley and began to run, never realizing that she was being followed the entire time.

* * *

The Sultan and his guards combed the streets desperately, and the bazaar was quickly alive with the roaring buzz of gossip of what terrible harms had befallen the Princess. Many peasants tried to help, but no one could find the Princess . . . no one except for one group who had no intentions of helping any one other than their own greedy selves.

* * *

As the afternoon grew old and the sun began to dip below the horizon, Jasmine huddled in a corner of a dark alley behind a row of deteriorating buildings. Despite herself, she shivered from cold even as her belly moaned its hungry protests. Her entire body was exhausted, but what ached most of all was her young heart. She missed her father and their home, but she could not go back.

Soft footsteps suddenly entered the alley, and Jasmine's head jerked up at the sounds. She could not seem to stop the tears that ran freely down her tiny cheeks and continued to flow even as her fear increased at the sight of the five rough teenagers who entered the alley. The two tallest carried swords. Two others grasped long knives, and the youngest carried a club. Each of their grimy faces glowered at her trembling form.

The group's leader was the first to speak. "Well, well, what do we have here?"

"Looks like we got ourselves a real treasure this time," one of the knife-wielders commented, his voice slurred a bit as he ran his tongue over his yellow teeth.

They began to approach her steadily, moving as one body. "Wha-What do you want?" Jasmine demanded, trying to sound brave but her quivering voice betraying her.

"We don't want to hurt yer pretty little self, Princess," the leader spoke again. "We just want you to stay with us."

The leader smiled at the cowering child, but one of his boys gave him away. "Yeah," he snorted aloud, "while we get a heavy ransom from your fat daddy."

Heat rushed to Jasmine's cheeks. "You can't talk about my father that way!" she exclaimed. "He's the Sultan!"

"Exactly," sneered the boy.

Jasmine pushed herself to her feet even as they came closer. Never once did she realize that they were being watched by a young boy far above their heads.

Dark eyes gazed intently down at the scene unfolding before him. He knew he shouldn't get involved, but that girl was the loveliest he had ever seen and she clearly needed help. He leapt to a window sill and reached out to grab a rope but stopped as he saw a huge shadow suddenly fall over the alley from another pathway.

Meanwhile, Jasmine did not see the shadow, but the boys did. They stopped and stared, open-mouthed, at the sight as the shadow continued in their direction. Soon, there was no mistaking that dark, massive shadow for a tiger, and even the leader's knees began to shake. He did not realize that three of his boys had already abandoned his brother and himself even as he turned and ran. His brother followed, and the group fled the alley as if they had had Demons nipping at their very heels.

Jasmine gazed after their retreating forms with curiosity slightly furrowing her small forehead. What had just happened? What had scared the boys so? It was only then that she noticed the shadow, and by that time, it was far too late to run. She turned slowly around, and a smile broke out over her beautiful face at the sight of the tiny tiger cub. Giggling with relief and awe at the lovely animal, she rushed to it and gathered it up into her arms.

The tiger did not protest in the slightest, and instead began to lick Jasmine's skin. His licks would have made some worry that he might have a taste for human meat, but the thought did not even cross the Princess' mind. Instead, she simply hugged him close and laughed until she felt his ribs through his fur. "Oh, you poor baby," she crooned. "You're starving, too, aren't you?"

The boy's head snapped back up to alert as more figures entered the alley, and this time he made a hasty departure even as a group of guards filed into the alley. "Princess!" they cried in unison.

Jasmine whirled to look at them even as a new voice called out. "Jasmine!" The Sultan quickly shoved his way pass his guards and hurried toward his daughter.

"Father?" Jasmine asked in surprise. "What are you doing outside of the palace?"

"What am _I_ doing out of the palace? What are _you_ doing out of the palace? I came looking for you! You had me so worried!"

Slowly, the realization began to dawn on Jasmine's young mind. "Daddy, you never go out of the palace, but you came out into the city to look for me? You actually cared enough about me to put yourself in danger?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks this time, but there was nothing sad about her tears now.

"Of course I did!" the Sultan exclaimed as he reached his daughter and swept both her and the cub into a tight hug.

Jasmine returned his hug joyously but was careful not to hug her father too tightly for fear of squishing the cub between them. "Careful, Daddy!" she warned. "You might hurt him!"

"Him?" the Sultan repeated with raised eyebrows. He pulled back enough from his daughter so that he could take a good look at her, and his mouth fell open at the tiny tiger cub she held in her right arm. He then began to chuckle. "Jafar," he called to his adviser, "your sources were very wrong, my friend!"

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" the adviser asked as he made his way pass the guards to join the royal duo. His eyes widened in surprise at the tiger cub in the Princess' arms, and then he simply shrugged helplessly. Secretly, he wondered if he had done this. After all, he had completely invented the story about the tiger.

Both the tiger and the Princess glared at Jafar; neither liked him even one tiny bit. However, Jasmine swiftly returned her attention to the tiger and her father as she cuddled the cub close to her chest. "Daddy, I love you, but I don't care what you say. I'm keeping him."

The Sultan laughed merrily as he turned his attention back to his daughter. "Whatever will make you happy, sweetheart, just as long you come back with us. I'm sorry I haven't been giving you the attention you deserve, Jasmine. I love you, but I'm very busy. I can't help that, but I do promise to take up more time with you starting tonight. Tonight, it will just be the three of us, and any business can simply wait until tomorrow."

Jafar was careful to keep his face from falling at that news even as Jasmine's face brightened even more. "Oh, Daddy!" she squealed happily as she threw one arm around her father and squeezed him tightly. "Of course I'll come home!"

**The End**


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